Friday, February 19, 2010

Is clear coat Polyurethane harmful to fish?

I'm planing on giving my beta fish a ';petrified forest,'; emulating the rivers/shallow waters of their natural habitats. As I know, they don't want lots of water movement, and originate in parts of Cambodia and Thailand. The thought is to make some twigs sticking up from the floor, so that they have hiding place. I also and putting a plant in it as well. The question is whether or not after I prepare the twigs if the polyurethane I'm planning on coating them with will somehow harm the beta fish. I've looked for any chemical data pointing to a release of chemicals into the water or it somehow changing the pH of the water. So far have not found any solid information. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.Is clear coat Polyurethane harmful to fish?This should not be done. Poly is safe while dry, but can disolve in water over time. You will most likely kill the fish within a month or so. And also betas love to pick at wood and roots, making it very easy for the bata to ingest the chemical. I suggest that you go to your local fish store and get wood that you can put in without treatment, or wood that is treated with safe chemicals unlike polly....Is clear coat Polyurethane harmful to fish?polyurothane some stuff and stick it in some water treated the way ur tank will be. check ph for a few dayz. I doubt it but im not sure. if there are no chemical changes i doubt it will harm them unless they try 2 eat it or sumthin ;)Once the poly is FULLY cured it should be safe.

The problem is that it does take some time (weeks) to fully cure and stop releasing various chemicals.

If it still smells like Poly, dont put it in the tank.

Personally I would just collect some old dead sticks, soak them in a tub of water for a few weeks and use them as they are. They will grow algae on them and give you that natural swamp look that you are trying to achieve. The wood will probably release natural tannins into the water and colour it brown. This isn't harmfull to the fish, just do water changes to control it.

IanIts probably better for the betta if you didn't do any of that. Yes its harmful as well as the stick found in the yard. Do you want something that looks cool or do you want to take care of fish properly?